A board member of the new Juneau Community Foundation, Kilcup said the new organization can help Juneau derive more from philanthropy.

The Juneau foundation is affiliated with the Anchorage-based Alaska Community Foundation, through which local nonprofit organizations will be able to invest their funds.

Reed Stoops, a lobbyist and developer, is president of the Juneau foundation's board. He said the foundation has been in the works for a couple of years.

"It was created to make it easy for people to financially contribute to the betterment of Juneau's future," he said. "Individuals and businesses can feel confident their money will be directed to the things they care about far into the future."

Stoops said the foundation will allow nonprofits to invest with other organizations. It will let nonprofit board concentrate on managing their organizations without worrying about investments.

"And hopefully the amount of charitable giving in Juneau will increase," he said.

Kilcup said that when she tells people she is on the foundation's board, they ask her how it is different from what United Way already provides.

"Both of us are involved in developing a culture of philanthropy," she said.

Stoops said the community foundation will be able to assist people who want to give a large gift or leave money in their wills toward a specific purpose, such as a scholarship fund.

"We would do our best to accommodate them," he said.

Currently the foundation has no overhead, Stoops said, because it works out of his office. As it grows, it will have to hire a part-time staff, the a full-time staff.